alexis in the city

the end of the world, a firey blaze of glory, and environmentalism

“the earth provides enough to sustain every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed”

-ghandi

i received a lot of feedback on my earth hour post (ok, well, a lot relative to my site’s traffic), and i was once again intrigued by this idea that some in religious circles seem to hold. that - since the world is going to end any way - we shouldn’t expend TOO much energy (no pun intended) trying to save it. i’m not saying they’re doing everything they can to purposely destroy our resources, but i am saying that they’ve adopted this “oh well, what the hell” kind of stance. i am infinitely perplexed for several reasons, the first of which i’ll explain here, the others will come in later posts:

selfishness and waste are not biblical. i’ve heard the argument that since the world is going to end some day, saving it is not really worth our efforts. this pre-supposes a couple things:

1. that the world is literally going to end. i’m not going to get into eschatology because i’m not sure exactly what i believe, but i don’t hold to a literal interpretation of the idea that it’ll all go down in a blaze of glory.

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unity and the prayer of saint francis

this morning - actually, as i was further explaining why i think pod babies would be so great, to someone who was arguing against the idea - ryan (somewhat) jokingly asked me if i was living by the prayer of saint francis.

saint francis is my favorite saint - and the protecting saint of my dogs - as he is the patron saint of all animals. i have his prayer taped up to my bathroom mirror. it says:

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

i wasn’t planning on taking my blog in a more theoretical, philosophical, theological direction - and it’s not like i’m committed to this direction - but apparently these are the things i’ve had on my heart and mind, and they need to make their way out of my head. as a writer, this is part of my process :-).

however, i’d be lying if i didn’t admit that part of the appeal to me of hot-button topics is the debate that ensues. so the prayer of saint francis is something that should probably be more on the forefront of my mind as i write. i don’t think that this prayer - or other ideas of peace and unity - steer us away from debate altogether, but they caution against the spirit of condescension and bitterness that can arise from such circumstances.

turning away from a society where captialism is god

i’ve always found it incredibly interesting that there’s a somewhat predominant movement within christian circles where capitalism is viewed with an almost holy reverence. criticize capitalism, and it’s like you’ve criticized a piece of the very fabric of faith. the “bible” of such a mentality is usually ayn rand’s “atlas shrugged,” (full disclosure: haven’t read it) which is said to be the magnum opus of objectivism (this in itself is hugely ironic). not to mention, pure capitalism in theory - because there is no such system in reality - tends to leave behind (if not trample upon) the very people that christians are called to love and care for. of course i don’t think faith and capitalism are mutually exclusive, but i am a bit surprised and disappointed when i hear people take on this “market is king” kind of outlook.

so of course i was happy to hear what mclaren had to say about this in his book “everything must change” - in fact, much of the book is focused on dealing with this idea - which he calls theocapitalism. interestingly enough  one of the best examples he gives is from jackson browne’s song, “the rebel jesus.” in the song, browne identifies as a pagan and a heathen, but then turns the analogy on its head by referring to “the rebel jesus.” mclaren writes:

“browne’s use of disturbing religious language … is significant. he suggests that there is a kind of economic orthodoxy that may allow or even encourage us to throw some dollars toward the poor, but this orthodoxy commands us never to question the systems that create and reinforce poverty. anyone who interferes - anyone who refuses to accept the locks and guns, the pride and gold the meager generosityk the carelessness about the environment, and the obliviousness to economic justice for the poor - will be banished from the inner circle of the pious and respectable, and will ‘get the same as the rebel jesus.’ … i can no longer ‘give a little to the poor’ without interfering in the business of why they are poor, an interference i believe … is right to associate with jesus.”

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so if we’re not 1950’s housewives, where does that leave us?

i’ve been tackling the ideas put forth in a chapter of a book called “the excellent wife” - mainly that it is a woman’s role - and an issue of black and white - to stay home and tend to the kids and the house. i went into (great) depth on the refutation of these ideas in three separate posts here, here and here.

so to wrap it up, i go back to the issue at hand:  i don’t think there’s a reason, biblical or otherwise, that the weight of all the responsibilities of the home should fall to the woman if it’s not something she enjoys or feels strongly like she should do.

i’m not naive enough to think that we never have to do anything we don’t enjoy. but if you really hate, say, cooking (as i do), and your husband likes it, why not let that role fall to him? or if you can’t stand doing dishes (and who doesn’t?) why not find a mutually beneficial compromise with your spouse? to make a sweeping generalization that anything in the domain of the home falls to the woman refuses to acknowledge that each marriage has its own way of working, its own dynamic.

to venture into anecdotal territory, i mentioned that my mom didn’t work after my sister and i were born, and i appreciate her for this. she did, however, have a career as a school teacher before we were born. the fact that she worked hard to pursue something she enjoyed influenced how she raised us and how i viewed my role in the world, and as a potential wife in a potential marriage. she was self-sufficient and on her own for a while and this sense of individuality and accomplishment - who she was before she was a mom - did a lot for the importance i placed on MY individuality, as a kid AND as an adult. this, to me, was worth its weight in gold, much like her presence during our childhood.

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is earth hour too little too late?

as you’re probably aware by now, around the world today at 8:30 p.m. local time, everyone is being encouraged to turn off their lights and non-essential electrical appliances to save energy and create awareness for energy consumption. or something like that.

i first saw this advertised on my bank’s ATM, and began thinking about it. i’m an active environmentalist, so don’t get me wrong - i think we all need to do everything we can to save the planet from, well, ourselves. so perhaps a global consciousness during one hour on a designated day is getting us a step closer to where we need to be. but i have a couple problems (surprise, surprise).

1. the people who never really think about their footprint aren’t likely to take this seriously. and the people that do care are likely doing more than shutting off their lights for one hour every year.

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